I’ve changed the name of this blog, based on the Scripture
verse from Daniel displayed in the photograph above. The picture is from a GREAT
EXPLOIT of my own, one inspired by the journey of Lewis and Clark.
Tales of exploration have always fascinated me, be it on or
under the sea, on land, or in the sky, or beyond. But none have grabbed my
attention or inspired me as much as the journey of the Corps of Discovery “to
travel from St. Louis to the Western Sea.” I may never travel 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea like Captain Nemo, or “Boldly go where no man has gone before,”
like the Starship Enterprise, but the trail left behind by Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark is more than just doable; it is something that I can touch, feel,
and experience for myself. It is something I can DO, and, in fact, have
already started doing.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigex6h8SxOKfWkd6HoNP8syT5hyphenhyphenkdcDvjyog-SDDMBpev4OlOZ6i2x8ai6RXui-2GuLAYz2M7gCnYHBh_jsI7XcJldSrfzODUhsh6sFr_B7rEzl-aYrUwR3qt6oYRe6R-UaSDyIJAeqtfTYJuQLrT9_TL2m4Ln8VXB1DI2mqxP_wBWiS-mTigznBn4Tjo/w200-h200/Books&Maps.jpg)
The journey of Lewis and Clark interested me long before the
Bicentennial happened in 2003 to 2005. Two events sharpened my interest several
years before the nation commemorated the expedition. The first was the
establishment of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, and the
corresponding Lewis and Clark Bicycle Trail. I first became a member of
Adventure Cycling, a nonprofit group that promotes bicycle travel, while
preparing for B.I.K.E.Russia, the mountain biking missions trip that I would co-lead
across northwestern Russia in 1997. When Adventure Cycling announced the
establishment and mapping of the Lewis and Clark Bicycle Trail, with its
completion timed to coincide with the Bicentennial, I knew that it was
something I wanted to do right from the start.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinA9JbXMJ_O-GYhNqC4NelWQku-DeEWrtZy03fdfKaO0a1HLIdmZXGDQXKFjZ8ykR8LRtngFkw3teh68wThmsKsFpjvwEdFrnGvRBVUIVJSUGMFZyngPjA2srlHDja0SL-WOtfagzL5fPvJv5m-ti2LjLq1k3tfIwP7vBWL2ajTWYnv-7rFaRirJKDV8A/w200-h200/Books2.jpg)
Two books, one based in part on the other, also played an
incredibly significant part in my decision. I discovered “Ride the River,” by
Pastor Larry Christenson at a conference in 2003. Pastor Larry’s book is based
on “Undaunted Courage,” by Stephen Ambrose. Both books would play a significant
role in my life, but “Ride the River” would change it. Eventually, I would come
to own every available copy of the book when it went out of print. I consider
it the ultimate devotional for the adventurous Christian. Those two books
started a collection that continues to grow even today. I have two shelves in a
bookcase in my study devoted to Lewis and Clark, and they are almost full. I
have no doubt that they will fill up soon.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyN0ZFtpX38AvY6bGKjPLCOFmGC6CNY3Dtxz-JW6EPTxFf4kce-YwhXaCyTWqU0X5qizKcDAn3ppB2caVUoKcu6RN_conKHs1tcha2Jqdr0ncsYBUrQ-N69VgV_0wwHcsww8PNRPyQvvTaD-XbxhZ1gBL3Frc8ClLAjh7AYNRNibch0e3uINM3UFJ4EWk/w200-h200/Books.jpg)
To “Ride the River” from “St. Louis to the Western Sea” has
become my single greatest “bucket list” item. I’ve already started. I have
ridden my bicycle, Discovery II, from St. Louis to Augusta, Missouri, and from
Yankton to Pierre, South Dakota. Already I’ve met some fascinating people on
the Trail and connected with it. That’s why I’ve also changed the title of the
narrative that I’m writing, to “Great Exploits: The Travels of the Two-Wheeled
Explorer on the Trail of Lewis and Clark.”
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPT3lhOn4uYIb63-wNQmZFLcFp__nRYgUCni2r3fpxWkGJRlCA9mZcuWC_FxfmF1ELJMUXPl1BG1TA5D9Y3EsyitpImbLVUMQOeTc-1yll5B8vFMpCq4chA-XvDiNDEsQ8qwMDZ5nu0Bikq22eurf-_hN-t4XACaFuk3Gc9_t2TjKf_IlT2p0jR3pTWWo/w200-h199/RAR113.jpg)
This has been a very peculiar winter in central Minnesota
where I live. With the exception of a few inches here and there, it has been a
largely snowless winter, whereas last year we had more than double our average
snowfall. (I believe that’s how averages are formed.) It has been warm enough
that I’ve actually ridden Discovery II in shorts, and yet, when snowshoeing for
the first time this year only yesterday. I’m getting ready for the Lewis and
Clark Historic Trail Foundation 5K that I have participated in for the past few
years. This year, it won’t be my first ride of the year.
Technically, the Lewis and Clark Trail now stretches from
Washington DC, through the Cumberland Gap in Maryland, to Pittsburgh, and then
down the Ohio River to its confluence with the Mississippi, before proceeding
up the Missouri on the way to the Pacific. Wherever my travels take me, I have
a River to ride. It’s going to be a Great Exploit and I invite you to come
along.